Business
Indian Railways Slapped Rs 2.8 Crore Fine Over Food Complaints In Last 4 Years: Minister
New Delhi: Indian Railways serves about 58 crore meals every year on average and receives only 0.0008 per cent complaints on average, according to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. Based on inquiry on these complaints, a fine of Rs 2.8 crore was imposed over the last four years, the minister informed the Rajya Sabha.
“It is the continuous endeavour of Indian Railways (IR) to provide good quality and hygienic food to travelling passengers. Necessary steps are accordingly taken by Indian Railways from time to time to improve the quality of food and services to passengers,” he said.
In order to take passenger feedback, the complaint management system over Indian Railways has been strengthened, simplified and made more accessible over the last few years through the introduction of the RailMadad Portal.
“With the launch of the RailMadad Portal, Indian Railways provided passengers a single window system to register complaints and suggestions. In case any passenger complaint related to food quality in trains is reported, prompt and appropriate punitive action is taken against the service providers for deficiency in service,” Vaishnaw said.
Among measures to improve quality, hygiene, and food safety are the supply of meals from designated base kitchens, commissioning of modern base kitchens at identified locations, installation of CCTV cameras in base kitchens for better monitoring of food preparation; and shortlisting and use of popular and branded raw materials, like cooking oil, atta, rice, pulses, masala items, paneer, dairy products etc. for food production.
Among other measures are the deployment of food safety supervisors at base kitchens to monitor food safety and hygienic practices; deployment of on-board IRCTC supervisors on trains; introduction of QR codes on food packets, enabling display of details like name of kitchen, date of packaging, etc.
Regular deep cleaning and periodical pest control in base kitchens and pantry cars is also carried out. In order to ensure compliance with food safety norms, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) certification for designated food safety officers of each catering unit has been made mandatory, said the minister.
Business
GST notice: UltraTech Cement gets Rs 782 crore notice; company says it will contest – The Times of India
UltraTech Cement on Saturday said it has received a demand notice of Rs 782.2 crore from GST authorities and plans to challenge the order before the appropriate forum, according to PTI.In a regulatory filing, the Aditya Birla Group company said it is reviewing the order and considering all legal options. “The Company is reviewing the Order, considering all legal options, and accordingly would be contesting the demand,” UltraTech Cement said, PTI quoted.The demand pertains to the period 2018-19 to 2022-23 and has been raised on account of alleged short payment of Goods and Services Tax (GST), improper utilisation of Input Tax Credit (ITC) and related matters, the company said.UltraTech added that the order was passed “without due consideration of the Company’s submissions”.According to the filing, the order upholds a tax liability of Rs 3,90,95,58,194, along with applicable interest on the tax demand, additional interest of Rs 27,68,289, and a penalty of Rs 3,90,95,58,194.The company said the order was issued by the Joint Commissioner, Central Goods and Services Tax and Central Excise, Patna, on Friday.UltraTech Cement is India’s largest cement manufacturer, with a production capacity nearing 200 million tonnes per annum.
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The value of the gold reserves increased by $758 million to $107.741 billion during the week ended December 12, as per the RBI’s latest ‘Weekly Statistical Supplement’ data.
India’s Latest Forex Reserves.
India’s forex reserves (forex) jumped $1.689 billion to $688.949 billion during the week ended December 12, according to the latest RBI data. The value of the gold reserves increased by $758 million to $107.741 billion during the week.
In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had increased by $1.033 billion to $687.26 billion.
For the week ended December 12, foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, increased by $906 million to $557.787 billion, according to the data.
Expressed in dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include the effects of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units, such as the euro, pound, and yen, held in the foreign exchange reserves.
The special drawing rights (SDRs) surged by $14 million to $18.745 billion, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s latest ‘Weekly Statistical Supplement’ data.
India’s reserve position with the IMF rose $11 million to $4.686 billion in the reporting week, according to the apex bank’s data.
The price of the safe-haven asset gold has been on a sharp uptrend over recent months, perhaps amid heightened global uncertainties and robust investment demand.
After the latest monetary policy review meeting, the RBI had said that the country’s foreign exchange reserves were sufficient to cover more than 11 months of merchandise imports. Overall, India’s external sector remains resilient, and the RBI is confident it can comfortably meet external financing requirements.
In 2023, India added around $58 billion to its foreign exchange reserves, contrasting with a cumulative decline of $71 billion in 2022. In 2024, reserves rose by just over $20 billion. So far in 2025, the forex kitty has increased by about $47-48 billion, according to data.
Foreign exchange reserves, or FX reserves, are assets held by a nation’s central bank or monetary authority, primarily in reserve currencies such as the US dollar, with smaller portions in the Euro, Japanese Yen, and Pound Sterling.
The RBI often intervenes by managing liquidity, including selling dollars, to prevent a steep depreciation of the rupee. The RBI strategically buys dollars when the Rupee is strong and sells when it weakens.
The Indian rupee has been under pressure for a host of reasons. It has already weakened by nearly 6 per cent this year on a cumulative basis.
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December 20, 2025, 08:16 IST
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Build-A-Bear Workshop wasn’t always a retail winner.
The toy store, known for its interactive experience of building and accessorizing stuffed animals, has gone through a significant turnaround since CEO Sharon Price John took the helm of the company over a decade ago.
“When I first came in 2013, that assessment of the brand was strong,” she told CNBC. “We don’t have a broken brand, we have a broken business, and when you started doing interviews, you really understood how much this brand meant to people.”
The company found initial success in malls in the early 2000s, but Build-A-Bear’s stock plunged after the 2008 financial crisis, with the company reporting a $49 million loss in fiscal 2012.
Under Price John, the company began investing in e-commerce, shifting orders to stores instead of its distribution center and diversifying its sales beyond just malls to turn around the company.
“Our goal overall was to create sustained, profitable growth, but the profitable was first,” Price John said.
That strategy worked. Virtually all of Build-A-Bear’s stores are now profitable, and the stock experienced an Nvidia-like run earlier this year, hitting an all-time high of about $76 in September. The stock has come down some since then, but it’s still up more than 125% over the past two years.
But tariffs have taken a hit to the business. Build-A-Bear imports over 90% of its products from China and Vietnam, and the company said in its third-quarter earnings report in early December that it expects to take a roughly $11 million hit from tariffs for fiscal 2025.
Company executives also said on a call with analysts that the company experienced a slowdown in traffic in October during the government shutdown.
Small Cap Consumer Research analyst Eric Beder wrote in a note this month that the firm was lowering projections and reducing its price target by $10 due to the company reporting lighter-than-expected revenue and the “implied deep tariff impacts.”
Still, the company is outperforming most of its retail competitors, expecting to reach $500 million in annual revenue for the first time.
“You can buy stuffed animals or a plush pretty much everywhere, right from Target to FAO Schwarz and every place in between,” Beder told CNBC. “The difference is that at Build-A-Bear, it’s yours. You helped make it.”
Watch the video to learn more about how Build-A-Bear has made its comeback.
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